Michelle: Will libertarian John Stossel be part of ABC’s Obama infomercial?

posted at 3:25 pm on June 18, 2009 by Allahpundit

Good question, especially given his history of covering the issue. The answer, I’m guessing, is no, since ABC seems intent on excluding representatives of alternative viewpoints even if lip service ends up being paid to those viewpoints in the questions that are asked of The One. That’s why Team Barry offered the White House as a venue, that’s why no Republicans are invited, that’s why ABC is even rejecting paid ads that oppose Obama’s proposal: The point, I take it, is to make ObamaCare seem like the only game in town. That’s critical to shaping the public’s baseline expectations of what health-care reform will/should ultimately look like, as there’s a huge difference between starting with a full set of options — a pure libertarian plan, the GOP plan, etc — and starting with one option that can be tweaked at the margins to address criticisms superficially. The boss wonders here if ABC will acknowledge that there’s a split even among Democrats as to how socialized the final plan should be, but I suspect not only will they acknowledge it, they’ll highlight it to drive home the sense that the left’s vision is the correct one and it’s simply a matter now of deciding how far leftward we’ll go.

Considering how many ABC employees donated to Obama last year, I wouldn’t get my hopes up about any grassroots campaign on Stossel’s behalf. Exit question: How about a compromise by which Tapper gets to host? He’s their White House correspondent, after all, and one of the precious few reporters conservatives trust not to get lost in The One’s dreamy brown eyes.